


in each of the places we meet (in all of the lives we are)

by restez



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (it's multiple dimensions/universes but they're not happening simultaneously), (kinda sorta) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, F/M, Lowercase, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 17:10:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17881856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/restez/pseuds/restez
Summary: Katara and Zuko meet and meet and meet again.Or: Reincarnation AU





	in each of the places we meet (in all of the lives we are)

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in _so_ long, and it's made me realize how rusty I am oof
> 
> Title is from Bob Hicok's poem, "Other Lives and Dimensions and Finally a Love Poem."

**(no. 19,875)**

 

in this lifetime, the world is ending (slowly, and not all at once; the product of a steady decay), but again, zuko and katara have found each other.

 

the sun sets behind a curtain of smog, and nightfall is a blur of poisonous colors. constellations, the return of flowers in spring, and the ocean tide washing onto a sandy shore—these are things that have died long ago, within in the history of a planet gradually rotting. there’s little to love on an earth like this.

 

but katara and zuko manage to find it in each other.

 

for past incarnations, past dawns and dusks, they’ve sent love notes folded into bits of origami. they’ve sat side-by-side on a fire escape, trying to understand one another through cheap translator apps and a well-worn japanese-to-english dictionary. they’ve transcended the boundary between the celestial and terrestrial just to speak, even only briefly.

 

but for this version of reality, they don’t need words.

 

only one palm against the other, the interlacing of fingers, and the warmth of his shoulder against hers.

 

on a planet so broken apart by oases of civilization struggling to cling to the last remnants of a well-loved home, they hold each other and need nothing else.

 

* * *

 

 

**(no. 5)**

 

to make a long story short, a synopsis: katara enters the royal palace as a court physician for bedridden emperor ozai and falls in love with crown prince zuko (and he with her).

 

he belongs to his country, first and foremost—and his country wants a political alliance. mai is a princess from a neighboring nation choked by the fire empire’s relentless expansion. left unchecked, they’re the biggest threat to the people’s safety.

 

zuko and katara make a sacrifice.

 

sat upon his throne, he is the fire empire’s jewel, the nation’s darling, the prince who brought his people peace. but katara remembers a secret zuko in a simpler timeline: his quiet laughter during late nights in an aging treehouse, the planes of his face in the golden light of the setting sun, and their heads bumping over a small, shared microwaveable dinner.

 

all these things of his (of theirs) are only ghosts in this life. the crown on his head is conspicuous, even behind the closed doors of their forbidden city.

 

they live together but apart, almost for forever, until thousands of years later, a museum discovers a single shred of proof of what they had (what they have, what they will have):

 

_Zuko,_

 

_When I was younger, my parents told me to find someone who made time pass in a blur, but you are the opposite._

 

_You make my moments feel longer; nothing is ephemeral when it comes to you, my dear. I’ve already lived through a thousand possibilities and permutations of reality in our glances, our polite nods in the hallways. So congratulations on your marriage; don’t apologize anymore._

 

_We’ve weathered through a handful of universes already, and we are ready for more. Maybe we’ll be luckier next time, love._

 

_Yours (always),_

 

_Katara_

 

* * *

 

**(no. 1,258)**

 

the language barrier is a new challenge, but they manage.

 

for their anniversary, they eat cake on the fire escape outside katara’s bedroom and each try their best to give a sentimental speech about one another’s eyes (noses? lips? they backtrack several times).

 

eventually, the emotional monologues devolve into a fit of giggles, and then—suddenly, they’re laughing so hard they can’t breathe.

 

punch-drunk with happiness, katara thinks about all the places and times they’ve been in, stuck staring at each other across the room, unable to cross the distance.

 

_this is better_ , she thinks, _this is ideal._

 

their _hello_ s and _i love you_ s might sound different, but the way zuko smiles down at her when the last of their laughs fade away (the softening of his face, and all the signs of utter adoration)—it bridges a gap; it’s a universal language all on its own.

 

* * *

 

**(no. 709)**

 

zuko, the sun spirit, falls in love with a human.

 

the heavens shake with anger, but still, they take the risk and defy an entire court of gods and goddesses. when they sit close like this, an echo of previous worlds and versions of themselves, they’re simple again, with no conditions or consequences in between. (the cosmos isn’t approaching a dangerous imbalance; the earth isn’t close to burning; their hours aren’t limited, a tireless countdown to the next dawn.)

 

their moments are measured, they know—but for now, time slows down until the universe is nothing more than a camera zoom on this: zuko and katara, a sun and moon, huddled together like they have been for centuries and centuries (perhaps there is constancy in unpredictability, after all).

 

“in the next life,” he promises, “we’ll be luckier.”

 

(they won’t be, not for the next hundred lifetimes, but they don’t know that—not yet.)

 

“okay,” katara says as the sunrise approaches, “let’s meet again.”

 

* * *

 

 

**+(no.1)**

 

This is the first time they meet.

 

They grow up together—in treehouses, in schools, and finally, in a rundown apartment they buy on their own.

 

For a week, they can’t eat anything other than TV dinners, but they’re okay; they’re all right. They play old-time music on the dinky, little radio they have and laugh at each other’s stupid jokes; Katara wears Zuko’s old sweaters, and he borrows her fruit-scented lotions and soaps. They’re okay; they’re all right.

 

“Do you believe in reincarnation?” she asks him one Saturday morning, when the sun isn’t quite up, and the only sound is the neighbor upstairs who plays piano for his distressed cat.

 

“Katara, it’s _early_.”

 

“What about multiple universes—do you believe in that?”

 

His eyes are closed, but he smiles, and she smacks a kiss onto his lips, mindless of their horrible morning breath.

 

Softly, in a whisper, Katara adds, “Do you think we’ve met before? Like, in another life?”

 

“I don’t know,” he acquiesces. “Maybe? Or this could be the first time.”

 

Katara sighs, tucking her face into his shoulder. “That’s not romantic. You’re supposed to say, ‘Nah, I would’ve remembered someone as beautiful as you.’”

 

Their eyes meet, and they break into a fit of laughter.

 

_But actually_ , Zuko thinks when she looks up at him with stars in her eyes. _I wouldn’t mind spending one more lifetime with you._

 

_Let’s do this again._

 

_One more time._

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> And then he got a million more times instead whoops
> 
> This is so short lol like a little sneeze of a fic. But thanks so much for reading, and don't forget to drop some kudos/reviews to give me some feedback! Have a nice day <3


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